Sepp Blatter today declared England would be the "easiest" choice to host the 2018 World Cup while Nick Clegg described the bid as "unbeatable".

The first day of the four-day visit from a team of Fifa technical inspectors did not lack for optimism, even if the Fifa president's remarks were grounded in diplomacy and the deputy prime minister's could prove dangerously premature.

The six-man delegation from the football's world governing body arrived in London 101 days before its executive committee votes to decide which country will host the tournament. A week ago they were in Russia, England's closest rival.

The first day of the visit was smothered in formalities, but Fifa will be conscious that 10 years ago England's last attempt, for the 2006 tournament, was derailed by a report that its infrastructure ranked below that of Germany and South Africa.

As England's officials prepared to welcome the inspectors, Blatter, who is not part of the tour, said that while the 1966 hosts presented the "easiest" option, Russia has an undeniable claim to stage the tournament. "The easiest way to organise the World Cup is to go to England," he told the Inside World Football website.

"Everything is there: fans, stadiums, infrastructure – it's easy. But you cannot deny Russia if they bid for something. They are more than a country. They are a big continent, a big power."

Europe also has two joint bids – from Belgium and the Netherlands, and Spain and Portugal. England's bid is centred around the benefits of bringing the tournament to a country with strong infrastructure and stadiums already built.

Russia was warned last week by Harold Mayne-Nicholls, the Chilean football federation president who is leading the inspection tours, that it would have to start work immediately on building up to 10 new stadiums from scratch, a fact the England bid chief executive, Andy Anson, was quick to point out. "While you are here, you'll see existing facilities available now to stage a first-class Fifa World Cup," Anson told Mayne-Nicholls in Downing Street . "You'll be able to see them with your own eyes not just in your imagination.

"The combination of our passion for football, our technical excellence, our hosting experience, our established infrastructure and our commercial strength means that Fifa can be confident that we will deliver operational certainty, financial success and a fantastic tournament."

None of the inspectors visiting London, Manchester, Newcastle and Sunderland this week is a member of the 24-man executive committee that votes in December. "We promise you that we will do our best to have a very objective report," Mayne-Nicholls said.